Re: [Raven] Technology to support legal intercept

[koen@win.tue.nl (Koen Holtman)]

Rob Lockhart:
>
>Let's look at one part of this from a strictly US carrier standpoint ..
>
>(Same disclaimer of 'individual opinion' et al ..)
>
>Koen Holtman wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>> The IESG wrote:
>> >[...]
>> >The key questions are:
>> >
>> >  "should the IETF develop new protocols or modify existing protocols
>> >  to support mechanisms whose primary purpose is to support wiretapping
>> >  or other law enforcement activities"
>>
>> No it should not.  By staying out of the wiretap support game, the IETF
>> might make wiretapping more difficult or costly, which would be a good
>> thing.
>
>[snip]
>
>If I were a US carrier, I would tend to think that this would not be a 'good
>thing'.  US carriers *must* (strong word intended since there's no choice in
>the matter) be CALEA-compliant by 30 June 2000.  Failure to have implemented
>whatever 'safe harbor' standard exists for the industry in question will
>result in a 'US$10K/day/failed wiretap' fine for the carrier.
[...]

I am not familiar enough with the US law situation to say if it will
actually get to the point where carriers will start paying these
fines.  However.

The key question here is: should the IETF help deploy wiretapping just
to reduce the business risks of some US carriers?  My answer is no.
Even if they are mom-n-pop carriers, nobody forced them to be in this
business.

[...]
>The definition of what falls under the umbrella of
>'information services' has changed a number of times since CALEA first came
>to light.  It's not out of the realm of possibilities to consider that ISPs
>may not always have their exemptions 
[...]

This certainly sounds like a very nasty business risk, though I have
no idea how worried ISPs should be in practice.  But again, see
above.

I can see how such wiretap laws can be bad for the economy.  From my
point of view, this is just one more reason not to have such new laws.


>just a bit of personal viewpoint,
>Rob

Koen.

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